Saturday, 25 August 2012

Thermippos — The Complete Dialogue

The scene is the agora, outside the
office of the magistrate. Socrates is on his way to answer charges
of impiety. There he meets Thermippos holding forth confidently
amidst a gathering of young men. Naturally, since death is on his
mind, Socrates seizes the opportunity to discuss the subject with a
man who seems certain of everything.

Socrates. You agree, Thermippos, that
all men are mortal.

Thermippos. I do.

Socrates. And you agree furthermore
that I am a man.

Thermippos. I have no reason to doubt
it, Socrates.

Socrates. Surely then you agree that I
am mortal.

Thermippos. I didn’t say that. You
did. Don’t put words in my mouth.

Socrates. I beg your pardon,
Thermippos, but I have simply drawn what follows.

Thermippos. Strawman.

Socrates. But no true reasoner could
fail —

Thermippos. Ah, the no-true-Macedonian
fallacy.

Socrates. But, Thermippos, given the
logical form . . .

Thermippos. Define “logical form”.

Socrates. . . . you must either accept the
conclusion or reject at least one of the premises.

Thermippos. False dichotomy.

Socrates. I see, Thermippos. You’re an idiot.

Thermippos. And that’s an ad hominem.

Socrates ad-hominems Thermippos with a
brick. The charges of impiety are dropped.

Excellent. I was trying to express this in Thought Prison by my comments on public debate and the way that sound bites rule out three-step logic (if this, and this, then that).

Three-step logic in modern discussions causes glazed eyes, comments about 'hair-splitting' and a general sense of 'yeah, well, anyway).

Women in public life, in particular, seem to hate it - regard it as either evidence of Asperger's syndrome or 'patronizing'.

On the other hand, it may simply be consistent with the (approx) 1SD decline in average intelligence over the past century - people smart enough to consider both a and b to infer c are now statistical outliers.

"Mere word-games" and "Occam's Razor" are two of my favourite Thermipposan defences, but none is so impenetrable as the shrug or the general attitude of "yeah, well, anyway" --- a nuclear-bunker dug deep under a mountain-side of granite indifference.

"On the other hand, it may simply be consistent with the (approx) 1SD decline in average intelligence over the past century - people smart enough to consider both a and b to infer c are now statistical outliers."

I don't think it's a matter of intelligence, nor decline thereof. I think it's that 'modern education' is designed to train its captive audience to scorn and hate critical thought.